I'm reintroducing myself to the world of crappie fishing in addition to my bass pursuits. My dad just got a camper at Kentucky Lake and a new Bass Tracker. Although we'll be doing some bass fishing, his main interest is crappie. When I was a kid (30+ years ago) we did a lot of crappie fishing at Kentucky Lake but essentially none until recently.

 

My dad has appointed me to get us up to speed as quickly as possible. My first trip down a couple of weeks ago I did get us on a few fish, at least enough keepers to have a family meal, but still trying to feel my way through the whole minnow/jig/jig tipped with minnow issue. I have asked around a little on a couple of crappie boards but raising that issue there is like stirring things up between the Hatfields and the McCoys. So I'm sure there are quite a few bass fishermen on this site that also do some crappie fishing, so interested to get your thoughts on which you prefer to use.

 

Of course you see everything on YouTube, but in particular I have been watching American Crappie Tour episodes. My thinking is I usually get the most useful bass info from watching tourney anglers, so same should hold true for crappie. It seems to me that the majority of them are using jigs tipped with minnows. That's what we used my first time out, Bobby Garland Baby Shads in a variety of colors tipped with minnows. Or is it just like so much in bass fishing, "it depends" based on time of year, the particular lake, and so many other factors? 

I don't fish Kentucky Lake, but I can tell you what I use when targeting crappies here up north.  I only fish for them in the spring before our main seasons open (bass, walleyes, pike, muskie).  I look for shallow areas that have warmer water temps and any weeds starting to grow.  I usually start with a minnow on a really small plain hook with a small bobber.  Once I get 'em fired up on minnows, I'll switch over to a small plastic on a jig.  Gulp Alive makes a good durable artificial minnow.  Its pretty easy to tell if they're hungry or aggressive enough to bite something regardless of whether its live bait or artificial.  I prefer to use artificial because I hate re-baiting live minnows all the time.  Generally, if the water is still quite cold then I'll need to use live minnows but if its a warm, sunny spring day and the water is warming up then I can use artificial lures to catch them.  Rarely do I keep them.  I went four times before May 9 this spring and released all of them.  Probably caught about 200 of them in four trips, the two biggest I caught were 12 1/4 inches.

I only fish for them in cold water but I use jigs. When I add a little Crappie nibble on, my bites go up 2 to 3X

Minnow on a jig! Best of both worlds 

 

That’s a good question, and the answer probably hinges on metabolism.

 

Many moons ago I was invited to fish with an ex-crappie guide on East Point Lake, Georgia.

I brought along Hal flies and frozen Missouri minnows. On the other hand, my buddy Jerry

used nothing but a ballhead jig and curly-tail grub.

 

After being soundly trounced by artificial lures, I decided to give up the jig & minnow

and switch to a 2.0” Slider grub on a 1/8 ballhead jig. The slider grub has a boot-tail

that generated more thump than the curly-tail grub. As it happened, the slider grub

was the best performer that particular day. 

As an aside, Jerry caught a 2-lb 15oz crappie that day, the biggest I’ve ever personally held.  

 

Roger

 

If you're stuck in one spot on the bank, that's the only time I'd consider using minnows. If you're in a boat and can be mobile, no reason to waste time with minnows.